The Ties that Bind
by Drachesoul
Summary: A short soon-to-be collection of one and two-shot fics involving the Agents of Shield and their mostly fluffy, fun adventures.


AOS: Project Mistletoe

It had been a long and stressful two weeks for all of the Agents under Phil Coulson. They had just completed a very dangerous mission just outside of Tokyo, Japan, and were heading home on the bus just a few days before Christmas. Coulson and May had told the rest of their team to take the night off and rest, which they happily did so. For a few hours, anyway.

Agent Grant Ward was rudely awakened when he heard a loud crash coming from just outside his bunk. Startled, he instinctively reached for the gun he had tucked under his bed, and flung open the door to his bunk. He trained his gun on the shadowy figure who was busy muttering curses under their breath and let out a growl, "Don't move."

"Whoa, put down the gun there, Rambo," Skye yelped, walking to the nearest light switch and flipping it on. "It's just me."

"Skye," Ward tried to bring his heart rate back down to normal, and glared at the young woman. "What do you think you're doing? It's four in the morning!"

"Nothing," she replied a little too quickly, using her foot to kick a box under the couch, wincing as it made a jingling sound. "Nothing at all, why do you ask?"

Sighing, Ward holstered his gun and approached his trainee, moving past her to pull the box from underneath the sofa. It had been taped shut, but he merely pulled out his pocketknife and had it opened in a matter of seconds. So that was the jingling sound he had heard… "What is this stuff?"

He turned the box upside-down to empty its contents, a small smile gracing his face. A tangled bunch of red and green lights tumbled out, followed closely by a pair of nutcrackers, a dozen plastic ornaments and a set of silver bells. "Merry Christmas," Skye chuckled weakly.

By now the commotion had attracted the attention of both Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz, who stumbled about the room, still half-asleep. Fitz yawned and turned sleepily to Skye. "You realize we have a fifteen hour flight home, right? Plenty of time to do whatever it is you're doing so early in the morning."

"I'm decorating," Skye huffed, gesturing to the pile of Christmas things. "Come on guys, where's your holiday spirit?"

"Asleep," Fitz rubbed his eyes and returned to his bunk, tripping over another box that stood just outside his door. Skye stifled a snort as Simmons rushed over to help her partner, who was now covered in tinsel. "At least I was."

"Skye, why did you pull all of this out?" Ward asked, "It's not even Christmas yet."

Skye fiddled around with one of the nutcrackers, avoiding his gaze. "I just thought it would be fun to spruce the place up for the holidays. I'm sorry for waking all of you up."

"Don't be sorry," Simmons said, untangling Fitz from the last bit of tinsel. "I'd love to help you decorate, Skye." She elbowed Fitz, who nodded quickly.

"I'm in," he agreed. "Just let me get some coffee first." He walked off towards the kitchen and soon the scent of freshly-brewing coffee wafted throughout the cabin.

Skye turned towards the mentor and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Ward?"

"No," he scolded her, though not harshly. "I'm not a big fan of Christmas, and I'd rather salvage what time I have left to go back to sleep. Good night, Skye." He returned to his bunk.

"Don't you mean 'good morning'?" the brunette called to his retreating form. "Man, what a Grinch."

XXX

"There, that's perfect," Skye declared an hour later, hanging the last sprig of mistletoe under the entryway to the sleeping quarters, the perfect trap for any two unsuspecting people.

"Mistletoe?" Simmons squeaked, holding her cup of coffee with both hands and shooting a glance at both Skye and Fitz. "Skye, don't you think that's a bit much?"

Skye collapsed on the chair next to her and winked at the biochemist, "Come on, Simmons don't tell me you've never been kissed under the mistletoe before?"

Jemma's cheeks colored and she gulped down the last dregs of her coffee and muttered softly under her breath, "Neverbeenkissedundermistletoe."

"Aw!" the hacktivist said. "You're so innocent! What about you Fitz, are you a mistletoe virgin?"

Fitz puffed his chest out, looking rather pleased with himself. "As it so happens, I am not. No, I lost that aspect of my virginity years ago at the academy."

"Fitz, she was our professor and completely hammered thanks to your "special" eggnog recipe!" Simmons admonished, trying in vain to banish the thoughts that were coming back up. "Besides, it only counts if you're kissed on the lips, not on the cheek."

"Wow, Simmons, for someone who's never been kissed under the mistletoe, you sure seem to know a lot," Skye asked with a quirked eyebrow. Jemma nearly dropped her empty coffee mug.

"What happened here?" Agent Phil Coulson asked, ducking to the left and avoiding the mistletoe ambush spot. "It looks like Fitzsimmons raided a Christmas display and blew it up."

Skye sidled over to Coulson and put a Santa hat on his head. Coulson merely looked up at the hat now placed jauntily on his head and shrugged. "I know SHIELD is this big, secret organization and everything, but you guys seriously need to let go and have a little fun."

"Skye, I don't think May would be too happy to see her Bus looking like the Christmas aisle," Coulson pointed out. Skye pouted and even he felt his resolve breaking. "Fine, it can stay. But you're going to be the one taking the fall for this should she find out."

The hacktivist grinned widely, but the moment was soured when May's voice came crackling over the intercom. "I hate to break up whatever you're doing, but we're going to have to make a little detour on our way back."

Everyone groaned, and Coulson took off his Santa hat and handed it to Skye. "Duty calls."

"Yeah, well duty can bite me in the—"

"Skye!" Jemma admonished.


End file.
